Catching Up on a Tuesday

I took a much-needed day off Monday, and naturally I missed a few things. So let’s play some catch-up on this Tuesday morning.

• There is the odd little story involving Vanderbilt basketball coach Kevin Stallings, who has apologized for accusing Mississippi State of ordering a player to step on the injured toe of John Jenkins. The sophomore scored 29 points in the Commodores’ 87-81 win over the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

“I simply misunderstood what my player told me about an incident that happened in the SEC Tournament,” Stallings said in a statement. “I have apologized to Coach (Rick) Stansbury, and I want to publicly apologize to the Mississippi State athletic department for the misunderstanding and for saying something that was erroneous.”

Stansbury, who was on the road recruiting and wasn’t even aware of the comments, had no comment on the matter.

• Point guard Dee Bost was named All-SEC honorable mention by the Associated Press, which I’m sure doesn’t sit well with the junior. After being named second-team All-SEC by the coaches last week, Bost said, “That ain’t good enough.” But as Stansbury pointed out, considering Bost played only half-a-season, “that’s probably pretty good respect he got to make second team.”

In 17 games, Bost averaged 15.3 points and 6.2 assists per game, the latter stat tops in the league in SEC play.

• Is Renardo Sidney for sure coming back? He said Sunday that he is – assuming that’s his Facebook page on which he made that statement. I’m sure it’s his, but Stansbury said through a team spokesman that he’s not yet sat down with Sidney to talk it over – again, the coach is out of town – and had no comment.

After Friday’s game, Sidney sounded like he was leaning toward returning for his junior year.